First Presbyterian Church

Anyone familiar with church design can relate to the issues this church faced when they contacted us. An urban church built in the 1950’s, had been untouched for over 60 years. The remodeled Sanctuary space was penetrated with new windows and skylights, introduced to allow natural light to enter the space without seeing the source, ethereally, bouncing off walls and ceilings. The white palette allows the stained glass color to reflect onto the surfaces – ever changing with the sun.

The traditional center aisle was eliminated and a diagonal aisle from the new entry door to the Chancel was added. The off-side placement of the Chancel allowed the traditional choir and contemporary praise team to share equally the “front” of the performance area. The thrust Chancel with wrap around seating creates a strong sense of community.

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An exterior glass wall reveals a small Prayer Chapel open to the community. The basement under the Sanctuary has been re-organized to create a large youth space. The new courtyard was pulled back from the building, creating light wells and a lower level youth patio, connecting the youth to natural light and with the rest of the campus. A new elevator tower was added to provide clear and disabled access to all the floor levels of the entire campus. What was created is a ministry tool to more easily reach the un-churched and de-churched. A church that had inadvertently turned inward over the years is now open and inviting, barrier free, welcoming all to worship.

Honor AwardFaith & Form Magazine and The Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA)